. >> nunuclear power was to beneft mankind, but ththe free-market insurancnce industry was unwilig to cocover cleaear accident r rk becacause it was immeasururabled potential economic damages were incalculable. so to encourage and protectct investmement in nuclear power, congress passed the price anderson act in 1957, which created an insurance pool and capped the amount of liability a commercial nuclear power plant would face should a disaster occur. >> well, the thinking that went into the creation of the price andeon act bacack in the fifties was that in the event of a catastrtrophic accident, no s se uutility would be able, from a financncial standpoint, to withstand that kind of a loss. but it was always s designeded primarily with the view that the accident would probably be the destruction of the physical facilility itself, and it wasn't ever thought about, you know, a catastrophic accident that went far beyond the plant's geographic borders and into the surrounding community. >> when price anderson was first adopted, there was $60 million of insurance and $500 million of unite